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Topic: gray and black water tanks (Read 585 times)

I just bought a new hideout 38fqts and I am planning on going full time in it by the end of the month, but I am having some confusion about the water tanks. My rv park has full hookup water,sewer,electric and I will not be moving it anytime soon. With that being said, can I leave the tank valves open all the time or do I have to shut them after each use? I have had some feedback of keeping my gray tank open and letting the black tank fill up 3/4 full before emptying it. But would the tanks even be in use if its hooked up to site? Also, do you shut off hot water heater when not in use?Sorry for the confusing question, I have had a lot of different answers but none from someone who is not traveling on the road.Thanks in advance!

You should leave the black tank closed and open when tank gets full. If you leave it open the liquid waste will drain and the solids will get real solid. I like to also leave the gray closed and when I empty the black I then empty the gray to flush the black tank matter out.

Oldgator73

Most folks leave both closed. When they get full you drain the black First then the grey. By doing this you somewhat clean the common pipes and your sewer hose. If you have a blacktank fill inlet on the outside of your unit you can fill about 1/4-1/2 way a few times and flush. Do not use your city water hose for this operation. Use a seperate hose of a color other than white. This way you won't get the hoses confused.

Previous posters have the black and gray tanks covered. As for your water heater, I just leave mine on. Some people turn it off to save fuel (either gas or propane). I trade the limited cost of heating the water for hot water whenever I want it.

I was ready to say that most people leave their gray water tanks open until a day or two before you want to dump the black tank. Like JackL said, use the gray water to flush the sewer line. Just to add one thing, if you have a flusher, use it to flush the black tank. When done, run it for a couple of minutes to put about 5 gallons of water in your black tank. You need this to continue the breakdown action in case anything was left behind and to help start it when you use the toilet. No need of any chemicals. Waste of money.

can I leave the tank valves open all the time or do I have to shut them after each use? I have had some feedback of keeping my gray tank open and letting the black tank fill up 3/4 full before emptying it.

We close the black tank valve until it's time to dump so the solids don't harden. We tend to leave the gray tank valve open until a day or so before dumping the black tank. If you close the gray tank you might find overflows if you use the washing machine (if you have one) or if you take a shower and forget it's closed. I prefer open until close to dumping.

As others said, dump the black tank first and "flush" it with the cleaner gray tank water. Chemicals not necessary.

To clarify the comments about leaving the water heater on: that's okay to do provided the water heater is full of water and air has been purged. Leaving the water heater turned on while empty will burn out the heating element.

We leave the gray tank closed, and dump when needed. Any solids that get past the sink strainer will be flushed out, and not sit in the tank to stink. The gray tank can smell as bad as the black tank under the right conditions.

Leave the black closed till you need to drain. I keep my gray open only when wife is going to do laundry so as not to overfill gray tank. Otherwise I will keep the gray closed and use it to flush out the solid black waste left lying in the drain hose.